Bigender means having two genders. They might be man and woman, or a different combination. Some bigender people experience both at once. Others move between them. The word describes a person’s gender, so on its own it tells you nothing about whom they want to date.
Merriam-Webster defines this sense as a gender identity that “is a combination of more than one gender” or “is sometimes one gender and sometimes another gender.” The dictionary also keeps an older meaning, “designed for or including the male and female genders,” and dates the word’s first known use to 1926.
What Does Bigender Mean in Practice?
The Trans Journalists Association’s stylebook says the two genders “can be, but are not always, man and woman.” The Human Rights Campaign’s flag guide adds a useful detail: the two identities “can occur at the same time or they can vary over time.” Neither account requires someone to split their life into equal halves.
UC Berkeley’s Centers for Educational Justice and Community Engagement describe bigender as a gender identity that encompasses two genders, “often man and woman, but not exclusively,” and note that a bigender person may move between them. Two people who use the same label can describe it differently. Ask what the word means to them before assuming you know.
Bigender vs. Genderfluid vs. Nonbinary
The labels can overlap. Bigender names two genders. Genderfluid describes a gender that can change. Someone who moves between two genders might use both words. Someone who experiences two genders at once might find bigender useful without calling their gender fluid.
The GLAAD Media Reference Guide lists bigender among the words some nonbinary people use, alongside agender, demigender and pangender. Nonbinary is broader. GLAAD describes it as gender identity or expression “outside the binary gender categories of man and woman.” Being nonbinary does not automatically mean being bigender.
Other nearby words answer different questions. Agender can describe not having a gender. Bisexual describes attraction to more than one gender. A bigender person could also be bisexual, gay, straight, asexual or use another orientation label.
Two-Spirit needs its own context. The Canadian government’s 2SLGBTQI+ glossary calls it a culturally specific identity used by some Indigenous people. It can involve gender, spiritual identity and sexual orientation. It is not a general synonym for having two genders.
Is Bigender Part of the Trans Umbrella?
It can be. GLAAD says many nonbinary people “also call themselves transgender,” while others do not. Someone can use bigender as their most specific description and also use a broader label such as trans, nonbinary or genderqueer. There is no need to pick one word for every situation.
You also cannot work backward from bigender to someone’s sex assigned at birth, medical history or transition plans. Those are separate pieces of personal information. If a friend tells you they are bigender, start with what they choose to share.
What Pronouns Do Bigender People Use?
There is no single bigender set. Someone might use they/them, he/him, she/her, neopronouns or more than one set. The TJA’s pronoun guidance notes that some people use multiple sets, such as he/him and they/them, and tells reporters to ask which ones to use. He/they, for example, does not tell you how often a person wants each set used.
A useful question is, “Would you like me to alternate, or is either set fine?” Follow the answer. If someone uses a neopronoun, learn it rather than swapping in they/them. A pronoun pin or profile can help, but an old profile may not reflect what a person uses now.
The Bigender Flag and Its Uncertain History
One familiar bigender flag uses stripes of pink, purple, white and blue. Worcester Polytechnic Institute’s flag guide reads the pinks as femininity, the blues as masculinity, purple as androgyny and white as nonbinary identities. HRC includes the flag in its collection but says plainly, “The creation of the Bigender Pride Flag is unknown.” Gayety’s bigender flag guide covers the stripes and the variants you’ll see online.
That is a reason to be careful with precise dates and creator stories circulating online. Other designs also exist. Unless you are discussing a particular creator’s stated meaning, do not treat one set of colors as a test of whether someone is using the right flag. Gayety’s guide to 22 Pride flags covers the wider collection, including the genderfluid flag and the nonbinary flag.
What Bigender Research Can and Cannot Tell Us
A 2012 paper by Laura Case and V.S. Ramachandran in the journal Medical Hypotheses surveyed members of an online bigender forum. As Discover’s Neuroskeptic blog reported, the forum had about 600 members, 39 replied and the analysis covered 32 respondents who described alternating genders. That selection matters. The study cannot stand in for everyone who is bigender, including people who experience a steady blend.
The authors proposed a brain-hemisphere explanation and a new label, “alternating gender incongruity.” Their abstract frames that idea as a hypothesis, not a demonstrated cause. Ramachandran told Scientific American, “These results are suggestive but not conclusive.” The paper’s medical framing and dated terminology are distinct from the everyday meaning of bigender. It is not a diagnostic test for the label.
A 2020 paper by Lex Pulice-Farrow, Sebastian B. McNary and M. Paz Galupo in Sexual and Relationship Therapy studied microaggressions that 390 gender-nonconforming and agender adults reported from romantic partners. Its title quotes the dismissive line “Bigender is just a Tumblr thing.” That is an example of invalidation, not the researchers’ conclusion.
Bigender FAQ: Labels, Pronouns and the Flag
What Does Bigender Mean?
Having two genders, which may be experienced together or at different times. They are not necessarily man and woman.
Can Someone Be Bigender and Genderfluid?
Yes. A person whose experience shifts between two genders may use both labels. Not every bigender person describes their gender as fluid.
Is Bigender the Same as Bisexual?
No. Bigender describes gender. Bisexual describes attraction to more than one gender. A person can be both.
Do Bigender People Have to Use Two Sets of Pronouns?
No. Use the pronouns the person gives you, whether that is one set or several.
Who Created the Bigender Flag?
The Human Rights Campaign lists the creator of the pink, purple, white and blue flag as unknown. Treat precise origin claims online with caution.
